A/N: Alright, here we go. Shit's gonna go down, people. Let's do it.
The plasteel plating melded easily with what little radiant energy Callixtus had left, fixing the warped armor as well as buffing his greaves and chestplate, significantly raising the durability of the armour. He had joined the Master Chief in the armoury, however, as the other sorted out his equipment, the Guardian had sought to remove his armour entirely to repair the battered piece. Now, he walked around the shell, having chosen a corner of the armoury as soldiers came and went, gathering their gear, occasionally tossing strange glances at the Guardian in the corner; the Master Chief stood off to one side, appearing to be calibrating his armour with the help of several field technicians. He too seemed to be keeping an eye on Callixtus, tossing him sparing glances every now and again but the Titan brushed it off, wholly concentrating on fixing and upgrading his armour with the materials he had on hand.
Callixtus, with the help of his Ghost, brought the beaten armour back to practically what it was before his arrival to this timeline. As the Ghost flew around it, making sure little details of the armour was fixed, calibrating and recalibrating the helmet, Callixtus took some time to lean back and catch his breath. He sat on the floor, legs loosely crossed, running a hand through his abnormally long, dark hair; it was usually a faded cut but over the past year-and-a-half, it had quickly grown out to the point where he actually had to pull up it into a messy gibson tuck or top knot. One day, it was going to kick him in the ass and he knew it.
With a sigh, he ran his hands down his face, fingers running over the familiar scars that he knew every edge of. Granted, he'd never actually seen his face as the Guardians believed that vanity would only hinder them but he knew the contours of it, subconsciously tracing his own cheekbone and over his chapped lips; if anything, he knew that his face was gaunt, cheeks hollow and eye tired. Frowning, he reached up and prodded his right eye where the Ghost once described it being milky white, the iris a darker, more silver colour compared to the sclera. Completely and utterly blind. Not that it hindered him. He hadn't actually noticed that he was blind in that eye until one of his fireteam members, Sasha, pointed it out.
Another sigh escaped him at the thought of his fireteam, his friends, and he dropped his hands, looking up as the Ghost spun around the armour before it flashed it's blue beam over it, changing the colour.
"Bright on the eyes," the Ghost commented idly as it switched through the different shaders Callixtus had collected over the years. "It's also really flashy, kind of gives this big 'I'm over here!' sign for everyone else. Let's get something subtle." Callixtus simply grunted in response, leaning forward slightly to tinker with the boots when the shader stopped on a molten-themed color, Sunsetting, a shader that Eris Mourn had given him when he returned an urn full of ashes to her. Traveller-knows-what she did with that. The outer armour was black and varying shades of grey while smaller details, such as the spikes on the elbows of the gauntlets and the under-armour were pulsing a soft, molten orange, reminiscent of the deadly but gentle glow of magma.
"There, try it on. Looks good as new," Ghost eventually stated with a satisfied chirp, twirling it's pieces happily.
With smooth, practised ease, Callixtus manually put the armour pieces on, rolling his shoulders, stretching as he took in the new weight with approving consideration before sealing the helmet. The new amount of Light coursed through him, giving him renewed, boundless energy; he felt stronger, exhilarated, and more aware, bit by bit, he was getting closer to unleashing his full potential as a Guardian and a carrier of the Light. A low rumble of approval escaped him as the Ghost spun around his towering form, taking in all of the data to make sure all of their calibrations were precise and proper.
"With the new upgrades we've implemented, you should be able to gather Super Energy much more quickly, punch and reload faster, and I believe your personal shielding system has been upgraded to hardlight. Anything that comes into contact with it will be electrocuted or...uh, voided, I guess is the way to go around. The extra shield should linger a little while longer too. A good thing we upgraded when we did, as old as they are, this Covenant is ruthless," the Ghost explained, hovering in front of the Guardian's helmet. "I can convert some of their materials into plasteel and if we get enough, I can bolster your armour even more."
Callixtus nodded in approval, walking several laps around the armoury to break in the new feeling the armour gave him.
"I'm also working on either adapting your weapons to compensate for upgraded versions of plasma ammunition or developing hardlight technology altogether. Seeing as the Guilty Spark AI seems fond of you, we could probably get some schematics and speed up the process from several centuries to several weeks or months." The Ghost paused, silent for a moment before making a passing remark, "I don't recall being so...active in a long while. Ever since we stepped out of the timestream. How long has it been? A week at the most? It feels like it's been months." A synthesized sigh met the Titan's ears. "I apologise, Guardian, I didn't mean to ramble. This whole situation is still rather bizarre to me. Sometimes I wonder if it's some unusual vision of yours, that you are simply waiting to be revived but it's too real." The Ghost trailed off, humming to itself as the Titan stopped to watch the Master Chief continue to calibrate and test; he was standing on a yellow platform, two metal, magnetic prongs spinning around him, causing the soldier's golden shields to flare before a loud pop filled the air and the shields decharged, the prongs turning red before the shields began recharging once more, shimmering around the super-soldier once before disappearing. The technicians nodded in approval, making passing remarks about the shields as the Master Chief stepped away; the Human was silent, standing in place and staring at seemingly nothing before he subconsciously nodded and a low 'Yes, sir' met Callixtus's ears.
The super-soldier walked over to the racks of weapons, grabbing a long-barreled weapon - a sniper rifle - as well as an assault rifle; Callixtus stared at the weapons, eyes roaming to find something that looked even remotely familiar to what he carried. Eventually, he picked up the burst rifle - Battle Rifle, he reminded himself mentally - and added it with his miniature arsenal; it didn't have the same technology as his other weapons so Ghost couldn't grab for him, making him resort to magnetically attaching it to his backplates along with whatever secondary or special he was going to take out later. Judging by the weapon the Master Chief picked up, Praedyth's Revenge would probably be useful in the long run.
After selecting their weapons, the pair walked back to the hangar bay, climbing aboard one of the dropships with the dark-skinned man Callixtus identified as 'Johnson'. Several Humans were seated in the dropship as well, staring at the Master Chief as the two soldiers climbed in, striding over to the back of the blood tray while door closed. Soon after, the ship shuddered for several seconds followed by a momentary loss of gravity.
There were muffled explosions from outside, indicating aerial firefights as the Pelican bypassed ships and headed towards the atmosphere of the artificial structure below.
We're on the edge of the galaxy. Ghost explained suddenly when Callixtus peered through the cockpit of the dropship momentarily, backing away when the Master Chief slid past it to view the sight himself.. If my calculations are correct then we're where the Reef will be standing in several thousand years. Amazing. I wonder if some of the debris in their queendom is this place. What was it called? The Ark?
I remember the Traveler telling me stories about this. I didn't believe that they existed, weapons capable of galactic-wide destruction. Then again, the Patriarchs nearly developed weapons of universal-wide destruction.
But just imagine that. The fate of an entire galaxy right here.
The turning point of the century. Callixtus added grimly as the Master Chief exited the cockpit and grabbed his sniper rifle - appropriately identified as an SRS99C-S2 SM by Ghost -, slapping in the clip and staring at the door of the Pelican which lowered slowly to reveal a desert-like plateau.
"That's some view," a soldier clad in black remarked lightly. Distantly, Callixtus heard Johnson say from the cockpit,
"Enjoy it while you can, Marines, as soon as we land, we're right back to it.
Priority one! Secure a landing zone for the Commander's frigate. Keep your eyes and ears open, we can use all the intel we can get." There was a slight pause and Johnson answered to something heartily, "That too, Marines!"
This was followed by a small war-cry from the surrounding soldiers, sounding like, "Ooh-rah!" or...something.
What in Speaker's name is a Marine? Callixtus prodded the question towards the Ghost as he brought Praedyth's Revenge while jumping out of the Pelican with the soldiers and the Master Chief, running along a shaded path up the desert mountain.
Hrm...it's a creature found in the sea- no, wait. That's not right. The Ghost paused before speaking up once more. Oh, here we go. The Marine Corps. is "a member of troops trained to serve at land, sea, air, or vacuum in correlation to the dedication of protecting Earth and all Her colonies." Huh, wonder where I heard that one before.
"Check it out," a soldier - Marine - said, looking up. "Is that-?" Callixtus followed his gaze and rose a brow. He'd seen the galaxy multiple times from a distance since he travelled in and out of the Reef during his off-duty, doing a multitude of services for the Queen but he'd never seen it without the purple haze that decorated the border of the queendom. It looked...different. A little less colourful but with more purity.
"Hey, focus!" Another soldier snapped as they continued along the path, through a small cave tunnel. "We gotta job to do."
They met up with a scout who whispered towards them, mentioning that they had a good angle, giving them altitude and a small advantage over the patrol that awaited them.
Crouching behind one of the small boulders, Callixtus lined up his shot with one of the birds wandering around; he didn't approve of wasted ammo on weak creatures such as that one but it was surrounded by several of the apes and other birds and grunts so he figured he'd take down as much as possible. Once he heard the crack of the Master Chief's sniper rifle, Callixtus's target disappeared in a ball of violet, the bird and the majority of the aliens around it dissipating into the Void.
Several grenades officially started the firefight although the Marines opted to stay where they were so nothing could get behind any sort of cover. They preserved their special ammo, however, taking out their assault and burst rifles, efficiently killing the smaller creatures as the Master Chief and Callixtus focused on the apes. It took several moments for them to realise, though, that a turret was shooting at them until Callixtus felt his shield pop. Looking up in irritation at the small gunner, he popped it's head, frowning at the recoil the weapon had. It was...strong to say in the least, almost as bad as the standard pulse rifle; his frown deepened, this would take some getting used to.
Clearing the area didn't take a lot of effort as they were filled mostly with the weaker ranks of the Covenant; the squad climbed down from their vantage point and walked through a tunnel lit by small but powerful lavender lights. Exiting the cave, they spotted a dropship attempting to piece together an AA weapon, the weapon itself simply lacking the head of the turret. Several more dropships lingered, dropping patrols of gold and bright azure apes along with the shielded birds and grunts.
The sniper on the AA weapon's platform was easily taken down followed by the explosion of several plasma coils that resulted in the weaker creatures dying and the familiar stench of singed flesh and ozone filling the air. Some of the crates went flying but none caused any casualties. As the Master Chief and Titan jumped down to engage with the apes, the azure one, apparently the leader as well, threw out a gold, metallic orb and a loud whine filled the air for a moment. Instinctively, the Guardian threw an arm over his face, growling as he was, once more, blinded by the device. Patiently, he backpedaled away, ears straining to hear for anything that could detail the location of an enemy.
Hearing the device explode, he quickly put his arm down and faced the nearest hostile. Diving away from the snarling ape, he fired the burst rifle at its head, succeeding in knocking its helmet off and further pissing it off. Lunging towards it with a snarl and growl of his own, the Titan clawed at the creature's face, scratching out its eye before delivering a hard punch to its temple to daze it. Sweeping its legs from underneath itself while dodging another lunging alien, Callixtus rolled to his feet, pulling out his Invective with his free hand, offing the grounded ape with the burst rifle and deliver a bellyful of fiery kinetic energy into the other. One died instantly and the other howled in fury at its burning innards. Another shot silenced it.
Quickly, Callixtus focused on another target, sweeping the remainders of the patrol while another dropship quickly arrived, firing large plasma bolts at them in hopes they'd be driven away but only made them seek momentary cover, waiting patiently for the ship to leave after emptying its cargo.
"Hunter pair!" A Marine barked, his call emphasized by one of the shielded creatures smashing several boxes and plasma coils away, ignoring the plasma that washed over its armour, unhindered by the heat. The second Hunter trotted behind it lazily before it set sights on the two equally heavily armoured individuals staring at them from behind the rocks. A rod of green plasma greeted them for peeking and they were driven out of their shelter, each one taking on one of their own Hunters.
The first one swung angrily at the Master Chief who disappeared behind a set of boulders, the only sounds leaving the small arena were burst shots, angry growls and roars, and the occasional diffusion of a plasma rod.
The second Hunter fired a second rod of plasma at the Titan who easily rolled out of the way. Grabbing his Invective once more, the Guardian was mindful of the length and reach of the shield this time. Firing several shots to provoke it, Callixtus dived around it just as it lunged forward with a downwards swing on its shield, the strike was powerful, jarring the body and breaking the boulder Callixtus was on moments earlier clean in half. Fire met its backside and the ground was met with an angry shield that shuddered the earth around the Guardian who, instead, rolled underneath the Hunter's outstretched arm and unloaded the majority of his shells into its pink-orange, fleshy backside. It slumped forward with nothing more than a whimper and elicited an angry cry from its sibling who, unbeknownst to the Titan Guardian, turned to face - from behind the boulder and ignoring the Chief entirely - the killer of its sibling and charged forward, dismissing the Master Chief, and broke through the large boulder that separated it and Callixtus.
It fired a rod of green plasma at the Titan's feet who instinctively dived out of the way and thinking he was out of danger, out of the raging beast's path, and realised with wide eyes that he damned well fell for it. The beast set him up to roll directly into it's path of vengeance and the Guardian paid dearly for it.
When the shield connected with his body, he felt his head snap back - perhaps his neck cracked, too - and maybe even several bones break underneath the harsh pressure. He flew backwards and into the leg of the AA weapon, body colliding harshly with it and surely cracking him even further. He couldn't even get a noise of pain out as he fell to the ground with a harsh thud.
He knew why, had it happen before when he squared off with a Colossus several years ago.
That first strike had killed him.
It was painless as it was the last time he was killed, nothing necessarily new to him. As his body met the ground in a cloud of dust, he saw the panicked stance of the Master Chief before the super-soldier regained his composure, angrily firing at the behemoth before throwing a glowing grenade at it. It was as if the world was submerged in water, everything was sluggish and Callixtus could even watch as the creature blew up in slow motion.
In the corner of his eye, he saw the Master Chief rushing towards him just as the Ghost appeared, hovering above his breathless, lifeless body, small diamond-like shell calmly explaining the situation to the approaching soldiers and preventing them from moving his corpse as he passed off into peaceful oblivion.
Waking in the Other side was always unnerving, no matter how many times he had gone through it. He pushed himself off the ground where his body would be laying, walking around the frozen forms of his new comrades, all who gazed at his corpse. The Master Chief was crouched before him, reaching out as if to pick him up. Looking away at the scene and to where his Ghost would be, there instead was a small sparkle of Light pointing to a trail that led through the caves behind his comrades.
With practised ease, he climbed over and around the rocks, being careful not to touch those who had not passed into the Other side.
As he strolled through the caves, he looked around at the sprouting, glowing nature. Vines protruding from the walls and trees usually dead in the real world bloomed profusely with silver and gold leaves. The cliffs and rocks sparkled underneath the azure-silver sun cast upon them, the crystals chiming in the air softly.
Not all was right, however, these sights he was indeed used to but he felt the presence of another, someone else in the Other; looking around cautiously, his eyes fell upon a humanoid form on a distant cliff, watching him intently. He couldn't tell who or what it was but he did know that they didn't belong; as soon as he spotted it, however, he blinked and it was gone. A frown fell upon his face as he continued along the sparkled path, was someone intruding in his version of the Other? It unnerved him at the thought of someone inside his mind; he needed to get down to this as soon as possible, maybe discuss anything unusual with his mental capacity as soon as he was revived.
He walked underneath colourful flowers that sang happy greetings and through the shadows they cast, words scrawled upon the ground, words that he'd seen before and were repeated constantly.
The Monument of your Sins shall rule all.
Once he reached the edge of the path, he dived into the Shores of Time and swam down, deep, deep down towards the bottom where it shone and rippled, never reaching the point where he was gasping for breath; reaching out, his hand broke through the surface and his whole world tilted, throwing him out of the Shores.
The water receded from his body, crawling back to the Shores as he got to his feet and looked around; immediately, he recognised the Black Garden, devoid of Vex and in all of its untimely, displaced glory but as he walked through the Gate leading to the Black Heart, he, instead, walked into the final resting place of Atheon. The Time's Conflux. He looked at the empty Timegates and the empty halls leading to nowhere, and at the empty plates. The only thing that wasn't empty was the centre of the Conflux.
Peeking out of the ground, on a single, strong stem, sat a black flower in the shape of his Ghost. A single yellow stripe ran vertically down it and the Light glowed softly from the middle, travelling through the stem and giving it small pulses every now and then.
This was not new, this was something he was used to, having done it twice before. He would pluck the flower from its delicate stem and then he would return to the living, leaving the Other side behind once more.
What was new was what stood behind it.
It stood with its arms at its sides, staring at him through the elegantly carved helmet. It wore robes reminiscent to the ones who defeated Crota and donned a shader that Eris Morn carried. A bright yellow fusion rifle was strapped to its back along with a deadly-looking sniper rifle. Looking down at its hands, they pulsed softly with Void and Solar energy, the magic sparking and jumping around its fingertips.
A Guardian. A Warlock.
Callixtus knew who it was, they were a part of his fireteam but why couldn't he remember?
"We are connected, you and I," the Warlock stated softly. The voice was synthesized, echoing gently and musically around the hollow area. It was undefined and came from everywhere yet nowhere at once. "The Time's Conflux does not come without a price, Callixtus. It is a weapon of Darkness so you are infected with Darkness. It upsets the balance within you and now Atheon and I only exist within your mind."
"Ephesians," Callixtus breathed, remembering the Warlock's name, memories of the fireteam member flooding back into his mind once more, satisfyingly so. At first, he was relieved to see his partner but then remembered that he was in the Other side. That could only mean one thing. "How did you get here? I sent you all out."
"I came back for you, wanted to wait, maybe help too, so I could drag your sorry ass out if you didn't get erased. In case you didn't die. That would be awful."
"There are worse things than dying."
"I suppose we're living those 'worse things' then."
"You got sent back too? Or erased?" Ephesians-44 looked over at one of the empty Gates before looking back at the Titan, the magic on their hands seemingly getting significantly brighter at the question.
"Something like that. I've been here for Traveler knows how long. Feels like years. You've got an interesting Side. I was supposed to be erased but something's keeping me tethered here, letting you remember me. If you find whatever it is then maybe you can resurrect me, if my Ghost survived." The Exo Warlock sighed quietly before continuing, "Anyways, that's not why I'm talking to you. I wanted to warn you about the Conflux. Like I said, it's a weapon of Darkness but not only that, it holds a portion of Atheon. As long as you have it's power, it's going to be in here too. I've been fending it off for quite a while but what I want to say is that the longer and more often you use the Conflux under the influence of the Darkness, the faster it'll weaken you."
"Is there a way we can prevent this?" Callixtus frowned underneath the helmet, this was certainly perplexing news and he was glad he hadn't used the ability often yet.
"If you die by the Conflux, you'll die permanently because the Darkness will have taken over your entire system. You'll take the Conflux with you. Atheon was muttering something about wiping out the Golden Age if you die, too, but I don't know.
Point is, we need to turn that Conflux into a weapon of Light."
"How exactly?"
"Another thing we need to figure out. I'm guessing that if I can purge Atheon from the Other side then it'll be easier for your Light to fight back and put your system back into balance."
"If you purge Atheon then we'll be sending it back out into the real world."
"Another impasse but if we could defeat it permanently and properly then maybe it'll be worth doing. Another way we could go about is finding another source of Light. This time period doesn't seem like it's been influenced enough by the Light or the Darkness for a proper dosage, though." Ephesians stepped around the flower to place a hand on Callixtus's shoulder. "Converting the Conflux is going to take some effort for you, if you ever need to use it, you'll need to concentrate on drawing power from your Light rather than letting it use the Darkness. Granted, it'll leave you mite exhausted for a bit but it'll convert it and start pushing out the Darkness.
After that, who knows? Maybe you'll start commanding entire armies of Precursor Vex!" The two chuckled softly, the noise ringing gently around the area before fading off deeper into the Other side.
A low whir interrupted their brief moment of peace and mirth, causing them to look towards the entrance where the silhouette of a Vex Ultra began making it's way from the Gorgon's Labyrinth.
"Shit, it's found you," the Exo growled, muttering curses under their breath. "You need to leave now!"
Without hesitation, Callixtus turned and plucked the black-and-yellow flower from its stem. Upon leaving the stem, the flower let out a loud whine - accompanied by the roar of the Vex as it picked up its pace, Atheon coming into view - followed by the growing glow of Light. The wind picked up as the whine turned into a low roar as if someone were banging multiple instruments together, the sound clashing harshly against the crisp air.
He was about to step through when he hesitated, turning to look over at Ephesians who was beginning to step down and towards the Vex Ultra. The Titan reached out, grabbing the Exo Warlock by the wrist, causing the other to look at him in surprise.
"I can't leave with you, Cal!" Ephesians barked over the roar of the portal. "I don't have a body and if I leave, it'll kill you!"
"Like fuck it will!" Callixtus retorted loudly, the pure light's force keeping the Vex at bay. "It's all in my head, right? The only reason it's still around is because I remember it, yeah? And because of the Conflux? If I time it correctly, I can transfer Light reviving into the Conflux and begin the balance; that bastard won't know what hit it! It will be too weak to fight back!"
"You're batshit crazy!" Ephesians all but screamed but let themself be dragged into the portal anyways.
"Understatement!" A loud roar shook the Vault as the two were teleported back to Callixtus's body, colour bleeding into the world around them.
The Light launched the Titan to his feet, reforming his body seamlessly, painlessly as he breathed in a sigh of relief. Cries of confusion and fear rang around him as the Master Chief himself stepped back in surprise, reaching for his weapon before realizing that the man before him wasn't possessed or any other kind of superstitious act. Merely resurrected.
"You died," it was more a statement than anything and the Titan merely nodded. The Master Chief looked over at the Ghost who hovered appreciatively over the Guardian's shoulder, whistling absentmindedly. "Explain."
As if on cue, the small diamond AI flew forward, eye flickering as it hovered several inches from the golden faceplate, blue light reflecting ever so slightly.
"I hold a portion of his Light," it explained simply, chirping. "Guardians are made out of Light. If it is not extinguished then they simply need to find the Light within the confines of their dying mind. A stabilizer to prevent mental damage. Find the Light, I can revive him."
"This..." a new voice interrupted them casually, synthesized and echoing slightly, "this is new. Slightly disturbing."
They spun around, their weapons ready, only to be greeted with the faint outline of a humanoid who was staring at their hands; the left one glowed softly with Solar energy while the other hand glowed with Void energy. Callixtus had seen this happen before, Guardians didn't spawn into the area correctly from their ship, all that was there was a green outline. Sometimes, all they had to do was reenter the ship and exit it again; sometimes, it required more than that. Callixtus never had the problem before so he never bothered with it.
"Guardian Ephesians-44?" The Ghost asked, scanning the outlined Exo. "What're you doing here?"
"I am a figment of his imagination," the Warlock pointed at Callixtus. "And he dragged me out of the Other side because we think that there's something keeping me from entering the Void and passing out of memory and mind." They lowered their arm when they spotted the Master Chief standing beside Callixtus, staring down at the Exo behind the placid faceplate that glinted in the starlight. "Ooh, is this the Human you two talk about?"
The Master Chief looked over at Callixtus and the Ghost as the Exo strode forward, silently demanding an explanation but only received a gesture that read 'Don't question it yet'.
Tentatively, Ephesians reached out to touch the armour but their hands, instead, went straight through the Human's chest. The area fell deathly silent before a Marine spoke up,
"Sir, there's a...um-" The Master Chief looked down at Ephesians. The situation didn't seem to elicit a reaction from him.
"Um. This is a new development."
"We need to move along," the Master Chief eventually rumbled, turning away from the stunned group and marching up a path up the side of the opposite cliff.
"This is going to take some getting used to," Ephesians remarked lamely as they fell into step with Callixtus. Experimentally, the Exo reached out and successfully touched the corpse of a dead ape and then tried to touch the Marine closest to them but merely passed through the Human. "So I can only touch things that aren't alive. Fantastic. I'm dead. Amazing. You and your Ghost better find me a body or my Ghost so it can get me a body."
Continuing up the path, they cleared the area of a small patrol of grunts before entering a small room in the cave; entering it led into a small hallway, two doors sitting on the left side and Covenant panels to the right. Entering the room on the left, they found a small console that glowed softly; upon activating it, a screen popped up along with a wall of text and, although the symbols were foreign, they easily translated in Callixtus's mind before they translated into the commontongue.
Observed extensive ground action on [LP 656-38 e]. 9,045 survivors barricaded within central government building. Structure's defenses inadequate to withstand extended siege by enemy ground forces (≈ 1,572,034,315+). Estimate position overrun in [173 hours].
846 smaller groups in less defensible structures; global distribution corresponding to [probability model zeta]. Estimated local position overrun in [9 hours] (average).
Observed local naval forces engage enemy irregular naval group near [DM-3-1123]. Enemy group consisted of 149 commercial shipping vessels, passenger ferries, and private recreational vessels from neighboring system. Enemy losses were total. No damage was sustained by local naval vessels.
However, it was immediately apparent that the enemy group sought only to enter [DM-3-1123 b's] atmosphere and make landfall. In this they were partially successful.
Observed extensive ground action on [DM-3-1123 b]. Enemy forces lacked basic unit cohesion but quickly gained numerical superiority. [32 hours] after enemy landfall 83% of local naval forces advocated total[destruction of the biosphere] following the evacuation of unmolested population centers. Enemy losses were total.
Estimated number of citizens evacuated before commencement of orbital blanket bombardment: 1,318,797 civilian / 42,669 military (.0006% of total population).
Activating it once more revealed another wall of text, only for the entire system to change into a violent red that blinked rapidly, the words disappearing only to be replaced by another set. This time, they were being typed out.
You cannot escape from me, Guardians.
We are connected, you and I.
We are not figments of your imagination.
The Conflux will consume you and you will be a product of Darkness.
You will die and I will live on, superiour, and with the power of Time coursing through me. It will be my blood and it will be your grave.
Your Warlock cannot save you now. Your Light cannot save you. No one can save a mortal from spiralling into the depths of an everlasting insanity.
And your Titan is all but killing himself. He will die a painful and slow death and be confined to the tortures of our reigning Darkness. The Light will perish by his foolishness.
I am freed and I will find you.
I cannot be confined.
Time has made you and it will break you, Guardians.
For I am the Monument to all your Sins.
And then it closed down completely, the hologram disappearing and the entire system shutting down completely, leaving the soldiers stare at it before looking at each other. It was more than unnerving and very disturbing but they had no time to dwell on it.
Grabbing their weapons, they exited the room and walked out onto a plateau where stranded Marines seemed to be awaiting them, their backs to them as a flaming longsword flew fast and low, crashing somewhere in the distance, the ground rumbling from the initial explosion.
The soldiers quickly formed up with the others, greeting them cheerily, giving Ephesians a passing glance, who just glared at them all before staring blankly in the distance, standing rigid before they reached for the fusion rifle on their back, beginning to backpedal away.
"Oh, fuck me, there's Gorgons in here," was all the Warlock said before they let out a strangled yell and seemingly disappeared from view, their form fading entirely.
Your neural activity just spiked, Ghost reported suddenly. I think Ephesians is back in your head. Fighting Gorgons. Why are they fighting Gorgons in the Other side?
Probably to distract them. Callixtus replied worryingly. I have a feeling I fucked up.
How so?
Atheon might have escaped the Other side when I tried to convert the Conflux, somehow escaped through the portal or some other. And it's most likely messing with Time or forming an alliance with this Covenant while simultaneously making another Precursor Vex army. One in my head to keep Ephesians busy and another out here. To fight us. We could all die because it stupidly killed everything in the entire galaxy. This is awful.
That does sound terrible. There was a slight pause as the squad cleared the area of grunts and a lingering ape. I bet you two hundred glimmer that we'll see Vex.
What are you going to do with all that glimmer?
I was just trying to lighten the mood. Another pause as they watched the Master Chief pick up a rocket launcher and shoot out the entire content of what looked to be some kind of sand prowler. All the aliens died without a sound and the vehicle was, miraculously, still intact, perfect for driving. The super-soldier turned sharply and reacted quickly enough just as another one of the prowlers appeared over the dunes and, once more, all its occupants were obliterated but the vehicle remained intact.
I see your two hundred and raise you five.
You're on.
Callixtus waited patiently as the Master Chief got the Marines accompanying them situated, giving one of the prowlers to them before climbing onto the other. Without waiting to be told, the Guardian climbed into the turret as a soldier wielding one of the many rocket launchers took a seat on the side of the prowler before they took off smoothly over the dunes, heading to towards the crashed longsword.
Ghost, if you can, see if you can find Ephesians. Integrate them into the neural net, I need to know what's going on.
Working on it.
Several vehicles awaited them - identified as 'Choppers' if the way that Marine screamed at it was any indication - and began to lay fire on the two sand prowlers that appeared from over the hills of sand, spikes digging deep into the grey metal as the Humans returned fire. A small firefight ensued in the small valley as the Choppers and orchid hover-vehicles whipped around them, plasma and spikes being exchanged between the two factions as they sped around each other in tiring circles before one of the hover-vehicles seemed to have a slip in the controls and accidentally drove into one of the Choppers while simultaneously shooting it on accident.
Everything spiraled downwards for the Covenant from there: the Chopper, turning out to be a mighty delicate vehicle, practically exploded upon impact and the debris proceeded to wipe out one other Chopper, leaving a lone grunt who practically submitted to inevitable defeat.
Callixtus furrowed a brow as they mopped up the patrol that hung around the downed longsword, How could someone mess up that badly?
After several minutes of poking around the wreckage, the squad moved on when they saw that there were no survivours, some soldiers stopping to pick up the tags of the fallen and jumping into a Warthog that sat several feet away.
Driving over the dunes, they came across a downed Phantom with several of the birds and grunts lingering around it, waiting for evac. One of the Marines strategically shot at the plasma coils the squatters had gathered, effectively finishing off the Phantom and the not-so-problematic enemies, earning shouts of approval from her comrades.
They came across an open area with a bridge leading into the cliff above it, several Choppers drove off the bridge and into the clearing below to engage the two enemy vehicles. Dealing with them wasn't a hassle and they made their way up to the bridge, bumping over several grunts before crossing the bridge itself.
On one end of the bridge sat a turret and a golden ape while on the other there was a large door with a giant, floating sentry shooting a hardlight beam at the turret. The light easily melted the metal casing protecting the small creature hiding behind it who shrieked just as the weapon below up while the Marines effectively took matters into their own hands and drove into the golden alien. The alien howled as it flew back and into the air, smashing into the rocks on the other side of the area, the sound of its bones cracking audible in the falling silence.
"Oh, nice work, Hernandez," a Marine complimented as several more of the sentry drones appeared from small hatches on the sides of the large doorway.
A Pelican lowered from the sky, seeming out of nowhere, with Johnson on a turret in the blood tray. Several unheard words were exchanged and then the Master Chief drove off the bridge and began following the Pelican as it flew off, heading down into a crevice between a different bridge and the cliff wall that surrounded them. Several choppers were disposed of as they climbed the dunes, coming across an offensive party of Covenant attempting to suppress a platoon of Marines hiding in an alcove nearby. As the majority of the vehicles were commandeered by the weaker creatures, getting rid of the party wasn't too much trouble and they received cheers of appreciation from the rescued Marines who promptly began gathering their weapons and ammo, piling into the vehicles they managed to save.
"LZ is through the cave, sir!" One Marine exclaimed as they drove past. "Watch yourself, got Covenant heavy armour!"
Passing through the small cave, they broke out into a cliff side where a mortar-based tank awaited them accompanied by two anti-airs. The mortar tank appeared to have been waiting for them and a giant arch of plasma flew towards them, hitting the front of a Warthog and causing the Marines to yelp as they flew out of the destroyed vehicle.
They leapt out of the way of tank and ran off towards the spire of rocks where several patrols were camped out, deciding to leave the heavy-vehicle fighting for those who actually had vehicles.
Callixtus pushed himself out of the turret and hung onto the edge as he lowered his incompetently large body on the other side of the prowler, being careful not to make the vehicle tip over by dropping his full weight onto it at once. Slowly, he set himself on the curved plate, pulling out his rocket launcher just as the mortar tank blew up under the strain of plasma and chain-gun fire. Heading towards the anti-airs, they just barely dodged the green plasma fired at them; leaning out, Callixtus aimed down the sights and waited until he heard the familiar erratic beeping signalling that he had a lock on target.
The rocket flew towards the anti-air tank but it just barely dodged the explosive. However, the rocket turned, making a wide berth and slamming into the vehicle in the backside, straight into the engine. Smaller rockets burst out of the initial explosive, impacting the mangled tank and providing an even larger explosive as the burning aliens inside howled in pain.
"I've heard of rocket lanuchers being able to track its target but what the fuck?" The Marine on the other side of the Chief's prowler asked incredulously as he let his own pair of rockets loose on the other anti-air. The Master Chief and the Guardian stayed quiet as the prowler turned sharply, allowing Callixtus to gain a clear shot on the next anti-air, the rocket impacting on the hull of the tank.
"Daaamn," another soldier whistled appreciatively, "that thing is history."
As the area settled, the Master Chief began backing the prowler away from the cliff side just as a soldier pointed at the sky, exclaiming, "Look! Up high! Here she comes!" Following the Human's gaze, Callixtus watched with wide eyes as the frigate began her descent, the wind picking up and blowing back debris and entire vehicles as it docked above the area. He felt the prowler shift, getting blown back with the other vehicles as soldiers whooped in appreciation before the erratic wind settled and the Master Chief along with the others joined below the ship, watching as several platforms were lowered, revealing more Warthogs, Mongooses, and a few tanks.
That's a nice vehicle. Ghost whistled in appreciation as the Master Chief quickly claimed one for his own, Callixtus opting to ride on the tread's armour to the right, followed by the Marine from the prowler. Those things could probably take out a Walker if they were fast enough.
As the miniature armada moved forward, Callixtus took out Hawkmoon, once realising that a super-soldier in a tank was practically unstoppable, and set to picking off ground troops or anything that peeked its skull out of its vehicle; backtracking through the cave, they met up with one of the prowlers and disposed of one Covenant-controlled one. When the tank blew apart a trio of the orchid hover-vehicles, the Marine next to him cheered happily, "Tank beats Ghosts!"
Oh, so that's what those things are called. Ghost stated icily. Fantastic.
Entering the cave, they came across a pair of Hunters which were quickly blasted away followed up with the same soldier saying, "Tank beats Hunters!" Immediately, the tank's large turret swung around to shoot at the azure dropship, four rounds succeeding in blowing the vehicle up, eliciting a cry, "Tank beats everything! Oh, man, I could do this all day!"
As they travelled back to the bridge, the Covenant stood no chance against the trio of tanks and barrage of endless rockets - Callixtus was more careful in using his sparingly however - and the ride back proved rather uneventful and unchallenging.
"All armour, form up on the lower level!" A Marine eventually called out as they approached the bridge. "Chief, get upstairs and have those little robots pick that lock!"
"I beg your pardon!" Guilty Spark stated as it flew alongside the Master Chief's tank. "I am 343 Guilty Spark, Monitor of Installation 04!"
Still a robot. Ghost muttered before it appeared over Callixtus's shoulder, wholly ready to face whatever mechanism barred their way.
"Yeah, well, you and the little diamond are also our tickets through this wall." Ghost's eye fluttered as it twirled it's pieces in deep thought before chirping,
"Interesting that they refer to me as a diamond. I'd say 'perforated or warped cube'."
"If you two don't mind-" The Marine continued irritatingly.
"I would gladly pave the Reclaimers' progress," Guilty Spark remarked as Ghost murmured, "Yeah, sure, anything for my Guardian."
As the orb flew off, Ghost drifted away from Callixtus, saying, "I'll go follow him and see what I can get about how this place works."
The Guardian stared at it, roughly shaking his head, prompting the Ghost to lightly nudge the other.
"Promise I won't die. I have no one else to take my glimmer when I win that bet." This got Callixtus to swat at the small AI who merely laughed and flew off after Guilty Spark as the tank rolled onto the bridge, bodies crunching underneath the heavy treads. Some mortar tanks barred the way, a dropship flying off as Covenant swarmed through and around the barriers set up to keep the Humans out.
As the tank rolled over the smoldering remains of the Covenant and their tank, Callixtus watched as Guilty Spark and Ghost worked on the door, seeming to be conversing quietly. The Titan and the Master Chief climbed off the tank and towards the door, waiting patiently for the two to finish.
"Ah, there we are," Spark said suddenly as the door soon lifted open. "Please, follow me." Entering the facility, Spark hummed to itself as led the Humans down the hall where a small sentry drone appeared from a small hatch in the wall. Callixtus stared at it curiously, Ghost running scans over it before returning to its place over the Guardian's shoulder.
"Interesting," Ghost murmured. "It appears that they're armed with hardlight lasers. I didn't know that these weapons have even been developed at this time! If we could get one of those then we could decode dozens of engrams the Cryptarchs have accumulated over the years!" After a moment's pause, the small AI added as an afterthought, "Maybe Master Rahool will stop giving everyone such obsolete weapons too."
Absentmindedly, the Ghost set to work on unlocking the small door the squad stopped in front of, opening it in record time before Guilty Spark had time to give it a go. Entering a large area, Callixtus peered over the edge and spotted the vehicles waiting for a bridge below and below that, an abyssal end. Spark guided the Master Chief and Titan over to a set of controls, remarking that one of them should activate the bridge.
Callixtus watched, this time a little unimpressed, as a hardlight bridge appeared.
"Excellent," Spark stated happily, flying off once more, "this way!" Entering another, smaller room, they spotted a pile of scrapped sentries although when Ghost did a scan on them, they were utterly useless and didn't provide much information much to the AI's dismay.
Another set of doors opened, leading outside, and revealing a tall, intricate, pointed structure in the distance, hanging over a cliff where - on the other side - stood a body of water which fell into a long waterfall into something dark below. Peering down once more, the soldiers watched as the heavy armour exited the facility as well just as the ground rumbled.
Callixtus jumped, pulling the Ghost away, just as an armoured, spindly leg landed right next to him, rocketing him into the air momentarily. Another synthetic-organic had appeared and seemed to be heading towards the clearing in front of the structure. The small AI uncharacteristically spewed a string of curses in surprise as it disappeared back into Callixtus's mind.
I think I'll let you handle that one while I find Ephesians.
The Titan rolled his eyes as the Ghost disappeared, joining up with the heavy vehicles below and jumping back onto the tank as the Master Chief assumed control once more. The vehicles rolled down the cliff, dodging rocks and blowing up Ghosts along the way. Several mortar tanks stood in their way as they attempted to enter the clearing, the three tanks facing off as the Warthogs and Mongooses zipped through their defences to focus on taking down ground troops and the Ghost vehicles.
Marines whooped in excitement at the resounding explosions, gunning down stragglers, as they drove down towards the clearing in front of the large structures.
"Scarab's back!" A Marine on the other side of the tank barked, pointing up at the spindly synthetic. "This time it means business!" Callixtus stood on top of the armoured treads, Hawkmoon in his hands as the Master Chief approached the behemoth of a synthetic arachnid.
Oh, no, I can hear your thoughts. Do not! Ghost stated suddenly but it was too late. Already, Callixtus sought out his mind's eye, searching for the control room of the large vehicle and then he felt himself move through the very fabrics of reality.
"Holy fuck-!"
Feeling himself being pieced back together, the Titan blinked rapidly to compensate for the sudden darkness before spotting the familiar shielded core, the arachnid shuddering beneath the impact of multiple heavy weapons. Stepping forward, he groaned softly when his vision swam and pain flared throughout his body, arm resting across his sternum even though the pain originated from everywhere. Shaking it off, he took another step, ignoring it as he punched the shields away before shooting at the flesh. A loud shriek pierced the air as the flesh was shredded away and the arachnid let out a whine, alarms filling the air.
Now would be a very good time to leave! Ghost exclaimed as the Titan stumbled outside, shaking underneath the growing pain. Now means now, Callixtus!
Wordlessly, the Guardian jumped off the monster just as it screamed and exploded, raining down it's mangled glory as Callixtus landed in the sand, stumbling before falling, landing on his knees.
Ghost appeared once more, taking quick scans of the Guardian who just lay on the ground, breathing harshly through his nose as the platoon of vehicles surrounded him, the Master Chief jumping out of the tank and approaching them just as Ghost reported,
"Guardian, your hearts' rates are frighteningly low as is your BP. Circulation and lungs stopped functioning momentarily and your neurals just spiked impossibly. Something's going on in your neural net. What are you doing?! What was that?!"
Callixtus huffed, hands moving sluggishly as he tried to push himself off the ground, letting Ghost berate him. "I've seen only the Vex use that! Is that what that terminal is talking about? Are you using the Conflux? Did you take the Conflux?!"
Once more, Callixtus ignored him, struggling to his feet as the pain receded; the Master Chief steadied him, gaze flickering between Ghost and the Titan.
"What's going on?" He demanded eventually, apparently irritated at being kept out of the loop of whatever was going on between the two.
"That's what I'd like to know!" Ghost barked, miniature body flying close to Callixtus's face. "As far as I can tell, this idiot is trying to get himself killed by using something he barely knows how to control!" The Ghost's eye made contact with the Titan's faceplate. "Do not under any circumstance do that again. Not until I access your neural network and figure out what in the name of the Traveller is going on with you." The Titan nodded tentatively and the Ghost suddenly whipped it's gaze towards the Master Chief.
"If he does anything suspicious, feel free to punch him," it supplied. "And tell me, please. I don't normally ask for favours but you're the only one I- we can trust at the current moment." This was met with a simple nod and the Ghost disappeared once more and the Master Chief faced Callixtus who held Hawkmoon once more, shaking subsiding entirely as the pain finally disappeared.
"Green, Guardian?" And yet another nod was given. Even if he wasn't, he figured he'd still say he was. Too stubborn for his own good and all.
The Master Chief eyed him warily before turning and walking over to a Warthog; as Callixtus climbed in, the super-soldier drove it up the ramp and towards the entrance of the facility, allowing the Marine on the chain-gun to take out any enemies in the immediate vicinity as the others forged forward and to the entrance, seeing that Guilty Spark was already working on opening the door. A Pelican met them, dropping off reinforcements and the Arbiter who nodded towards them and gave them an idle compliment on their progress before entering the facility.
They walked over corpses of grunts and apes, aliens that were killed by the sentries, as they met up with Spark who set to work on yet another door.
"It seems I've run into an error," Spark announced suddenly.
"Here, lemme take a look," a Marine offered, walking towards the door, only to get hit by Spark's blue beam.
"Oracle!" The Arbiter scolded as the Marine glared at the small orb, saying irritably, "Little bastard stung me!"
"I did not want you to come to any harm," Spark reasoned calmly as Ghost appeared, mumbling, "Scoot." and set to work on opening the door as the Marine growled under his breath, "Funny way of showing it." As soon as the door opened, Ghost disappeared once more, ignoring Spark's compliment as it took the lead once more into a room full of sleeping aliens and one particular ape who was taking a piss in the corner. As the others took care of the grunts, the Master Chief swiftly and silently made his way over to the ape, snapping its neck in the blink of an eye. The sound of armour colliding with the ground, however, woke up the remainder of the smaller creatures and set them into panic, making it rather difficult to kill the rest of them for a moment.
Entering a small hall, the squad made haste into another room leading deeper into the facility and coming across more sleeping grunts. They threw a grenade at a set of plasma coils sitting next to the slumber creatures and wiped out half of the room with them, setting off a chain reaction of explosions that only left the azure ape standing. Its armour was quickly stripped away, helmet popping off with a well-placed shot from Hawkmoon, the handcannon letting out it's customary booming sounds - unusual for a small weapon - and was finished off by a bullet to the throat, left to choke in it's own blood.
They spiraled down deeper into the facility, Guilty Spark leading them the entire way; they ran into a weakly-armoured ape that barked, "Finally, a challenge!" but didn't get much say in considering the fact that the Master Chief threw a plasma grenade into its mouth. The Humans leapt into the room, guns blazing as they tore down all aliens that stood in their path, their enemies squawking in protest as they valiantly attempted to fight back. Callixtus shoulder-charged one ape, tearing out its arm, and into another, his spiked shoulder piercing through the weak armour and killing it instantly. When he swung around, the body flew off the spike and into a shielded squawker, pinning it down.
Several extra powerful rounds of Hawkmoon pelted another ape's helmet and it went down without a sound as the Titan turned and threw a lightning grenade into a group of shielded birds, the periodic lightning lashing out at the aliens violently, electrocuting them and their shields.
Wordlessly, they continued forward, coming across a large, glass platform curved into a U-shape, control panels expanding from the deep curve.
"The Cartographer," Guilty Spark said in a please voice. "Come, it awaits your approval." The Master Chief approached the device, activating a hologram of the galaxy as the Arbiter made his way around one of the extended platforms, Callixtus standing several feet away from the Human, eyeing the skies warily.
"That's...our galaxy," the Chief stated numbly as Spark floated idly next to him. "We're beyond the rim."
"Two to the eighteenth light years from the galactic centre," Spark noted. "To be precise."
"What is this place?"
"The Ark."
"This is the Ark?"
"I always assumed it was part of a shield installation but it seems I was mistaken."
"That's a first."
"Not at all. While I have a complete understanding of Installation 04, my Makers limited my knowledge on all other strategic facilities. Compartmentalisation. In case I was captured by the Flood." The Master Chief cast Callixtus a passing glance who merely gave a shrug that said, 'I'd do that, yes.'
"Can you tell me where we are exactly?"
"Here." A small blip was highlighted on the hologram of the Ark.
"And Truth?" Another blip was highlighted on one of the prongs of the device.
"In one of the Ark's super-illuminal communications arrays, I'm afraid. Unfortunate. The meddler has triggered a barrier. A defensive perimeter around the Ark's core." As the AI continued explaining the situation, two aerial ships passed casually by outside, causing the soldiers to tense up. Slowly, the Master Chief made his way around the perimeter of the device, keeping his eye on Spark as the AI continued rambling. "The barrier will be difficult to disable. How odd that my Makers would place such a comprehensive defence around a single-oh my."
"What is it?"
"Phantom!" The Arbiter barked, pointing at the approaching dropship. The Master Chief dived behind cover as the others pulled out their weapons, prepared for whatever came out of the dropship.
"Spark, move!" The Chief ordered and the orb instantly moved to the Human's side.
"We must get past that barrier or the meddler will destroy it all!" Spark exclaimed. Immediately, the Master Chief ran towards where they came from, Callixtus lingering behind as the Arbiter stated,
"Follow the Oracle, Spartan, I will help your sergeant clear the skies!"
"Sir," one of the Marines spoke up, "a Pelican's gonna land one level down!"
As they descended, they came across assassins, the apes having gone invisible and attempting to get around them. The air blurred irritatingly, distorted by the forms of the apes, and Callixtus concentrated carefully, making sure none of the aliens snuck up on him as his gaze trailed around the room. Taking out his Invective, he waited patiently, turning when he heard a roar and pumped several shells of fire into the belly of the beast, the corpse nearly slumping over him.
Swinging around, he took out another ape that attempted to lunge at him, the creature howling as it tried to put out the flames but only succeeded in spreading them. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted one last ape trying its damnedest to keep the element of surprise only to receive a shotgun blast into the stomach and a swift kick to the head, smashing it to a bloody pulp against one of the pillars.
Descending into another platform area, Callixtus engaged with the jetpackers, swiftly knocking many of them out of the air. One of them he was able to knock off the edge and into the abyss below. While simultaneously keeping the other apes busy, he provided as much covering fire as he could for the Master Chief who was currently taking on two heavily armoured apes that were attempting to smash him with their brutish hammers.
When one of them went down and the Master Chief picked up the hammer, the firefight passed on rather quickly. The Covenant squad was either smashed to a pulp or kicked off the edge by pissed off super-soldiers, each side spewing out insults along the way.
As soon as the area was clear, two Pelicans appeared, one being controlled by the woman Callixtus recalled being addressed as Commander Keyes. One Pelican came forward to pick up the troops when a swarm of sentries appeared from below. Alert and alarmed, they raised their weapons towards the bots as the Master Chief laid out a warning.
Immediately, the Pelicans turned to have their turrets ready to face off with the bots only to have Guilty Spark stop them.
"No! Don't shoot! They mean us no harm! Those units have a priority task."
"Oh, yeah? And what might that be?" Johnson asked in irritation.
"I really can't say. Not for sure."
Oh, I know what they're doing, Ghost grumbled suddenly as they watched the sentries disappear. I've established a connection between us and your neural network. You should be able to mentally contact Ephesians now; I'm currently working on finding some way to bring them out here, however.
I have a feeling you didn't make that remark just because you felt like it. Callixtus stated hesitantly as he and the Master Chief stepped onto the Pelican, the hatch closing.
No. I didn't. You owe me five hundred glimmer.
What?
The Vex. They're coming. And they're working for that thing.
Guilty Spark?
Yes. Wherever those sentries are going, it's got to deal with the Vex.
And how did you figure that out?
I did some poking around. Ephesians's voice joined in on the conversation, a new presence filling Callixtus's mind. This one was organic and warm and he suddenly felt like there was a second person inside of him as if he were sharing the body. Atheon's got a bit of control in the Other side, it keeps sending Vex here to get the Conflux which appeared shortly after I got back from fighting the Gorgons. I've been stuck in the final area of the Vault. It's chaotic in here, I didn't think it'd be able to happen but they can't get through. Since you have control over the Conflux, your mental barriers are also Vex.
What?
Besides the point, I digress. Every Precursor Vex killed reveals a data packet of information; I've been collecting these, some of them are information and some of them are memories. Moral of the story is, Atheon's made a deal with this Guilty Spark AI and there's a lot of Vex heading your way.
Not only that. Ghost added.
As if it could get worse. Callixtus frowned.
Oh no, it can. Ephesians remarked dryly. Looks like the whole 'an evil so dark it despises other evil' doesn't apply to the Precursor Vex. Atheon is in it with the Grave Plague. Has plans, schematics, schemes-
What's the point you're trying to get across?
Atheon's shared the plans of how to resurrect. How to implement magic into the Plague itself.
You mean-?
The Hive. They're coming as well.
A/N: Yes.
Now we have an Exo Warlock thrown into this whole ordeal. Sort of.
Ephesians-44 is non-binary and their armour consists of Obsidian Mind, Deathsinger's Grip and Mantle, and Dusk Tread VI. Shader is Middaye. Bond is the Bone Circlet. Arsenal consists of primaries Vex Mythoclast (explained next chapter, maybe) and Word of Crota, specials Icebreaker and Secret Handshake, and heavies Gjallarhorn and the Unfriendly Giant. By the way their arsenal and armour is set up, you can see some...thing they've done in the past. Despite being stuck in the Other side, they'll show up frequently so I might as well tell you their set-up now.
Original draft had Callixtus accept a deal from Atheon (as described in the new prologue) and kill the rest of Ephesians but it was highly out of character and stupid in general. Second draft had Ephesians come back to life entirely but I want it to be just the Master Chief and Callixtus; they'll occasionally pop up like they did earlier but it won't be often and they can't do it manually. I won't have Callixtus dying often but he'll be going into the Other side occasionally.
Ephesians is critical to the story, but they're not crucial to the point where I'll be writing in their POV or bringing them to the Halo Universe per se. Original draft also had the rest of the fireteam stuck in the Other side but I scrapped it because I can't write about six Guardians and a Spartan with varying personalities; I'm already overburdening myself with these three and that's not even topping off with the Ghost and other characters. Oh well.
Also, trninja and anyone else with the same question or comment, if you wished for the Chief to go into Destiny's world then you should definitely check out Our Forgotten Heroes by TheAlphaTitan, a fabulous read and just getting started so you'll have enough time to catch up. They have a coherent posting schedule and are an amazing writer and I wish I could write like them.
And, if you'll look on my profile, I've mentioned that this story is the first of a series. I've the entire plot/arch/whatever planned out and all I need is to execute it. There's a lot of wiggle room for, well, just about anything. So stick with this and maybe you'll see what happens.
If you can, please leave a review or PM me; it boosts my morale and your advice really helps me out.
Thanks for reading.